Dozens Killed and More Wounded in Series of Attacks Across Iraq

By Thomas Murphy
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Militants attacked in multiple locations across the country on Thursday, killing a number of people with reports as high as sixty-two dead.  The militants included bombers and gunmen appearing to target law enforcement personnel.  Most of the attacks occurred in the Anbar province, a stronghold of the anti-government Sunni population.

The remnants of a car bomb that injured a number of people in Kirkuk. (Photo Courtesy of BBC)

Gunmen shot and killed three soldiers at an army checkpoint near Barwana, a small Anbar town 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.  The gunmen then continued down the road and opened fire on a nearby trailer used by Iraqi security forces protecting oil facilities.  After killing the eleven officers inside, the gunmen proceeded to set the trailer ablaze.  The men inside the trailer were likely sitting down to break Ramadan fast at sunset when they were attacked.

A suicide car bomb in Fallujah, also in Anbar, killed two people and wounded five, according to local security officials. Additionally, the police headquarters there were reportedly attacked by gunmen killing seven officers.  Similarly, in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar, provincial officials stated that two officers were killed during an assault on a police station.

In the Anbar towns of Kirkuk, Tikrit, and Khaldia there were additional reports of attacks that employed car and roadside bombs to injure and kill a number of people including some soldiers.

Iraqi security forces were not the only target of the day as at least two attacks occurred in civilian settings.

In the town of Muqdadiya, 80 km northeast of Baghdad, a car bomb exploded at a funeral and a suicide bomber detonated himself as people began evacuating the wounded.  The attacks killed at least eleven people, police said.

“I was sitting inside the tent…when I heard a huge explosion. I rushed out (and) saw a car burning. While we were busy evacuating the injured, a suicide bomber took us by surprise,” said 47-year-old teacher Kadhim Hassan, who was taken to hospital with injuries to his leg.

Also, 85 km north of Baghadad, in Yathrib at least ten people were killed and eighteen others wounded when two car bombs occurred near a coffee shop.

The killings are only the continuation of violent turmoil that has seen more than 2,600 people killed since the beginning of April.  As a result, fear is spreading across the country that a civil war between the Sunnis and Shiites is becoming more and more likely.  Thus far, there has been no sign of a political comprise between the two sides.

For further information, please see:

People’s Daily – At least 62 killed, 139 wounded in wave of attacks across Iraq – 12 July 2013

Al Jazeera – Series of deadly attacks strike Iraq – 11 July 2013

BBC –Iraq violence: Dozens killed and wounded in new attacks  – 11 July 2013

Reuters –Bomb, gun attacks across Iraq kill at least 44 – 11 July 2013

Washington Post –Iraq attacks leave 31 dead, mostly security forces  – 11 July 2013

Former FISA Court Judge Criticizes 2008 Reform

by Michael Yoakum
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – A former FISA Court judge voiced concerns on Tuesday about the lack of an adversarial system for the government to obtain wiretap and data collection warrants. James Robertson, a former federal district court judge said that the FISA Court has essentially become “something like an administrative agency” because only the government is represented in warrant requests.

Former FISA Judge James Robertson testified before a federal oversight board on intelligence gathering led by President Obama. (Photo courtesy of The Wall Street Journal)

Robertson spoke Tuesday before a federal oversight board directed by President Obama aimed at scrutinizing government spying. “Anyone who has been a judge will tell you a judge needs to hear both sides of a case,” Robertson explained. Robertson, however, defended the FISA Court as a whole, saying that it remained independent in its proceedings. He further praised the court system for requiring “scrupulous and fastidious” work from the Department of Justice in obtaining warrants during his tenure.

Robertson placed blame on a 2008 piece of reform legislation that expanded the government’s authority over the FISA Court. Under the 2008 reform, the government may compel the FISA court to approve entire surveillance systems instead of surveillance warrants targeted as individual suspects.

The 2008 reform attracted little public attention until former NSA contractor Edward Snowden released classified information detailing an NSA program to collect cellphone metadata from American citizens. Robertson said that he was “stunned” by the news that the FISA court created law that allowed the NSA to gather information not only to find terrorist suspects, but also espionage and cyber-attack suspects.

Royce Lamberth, who was the chief judge on the FISA Court from 1995 to 2002, defended the Court in its entirety. Lamberth took offense to the notion that the Court gave “rubber stamp” approval for warrant requests, telling NPR, “We’re approving it because it should be approved, because it’s valid, because what the government’s doing here is the kinds of things we should be doing.”

Lamberth recalled “bloodcurdling” briefs in the wake of 9/11 that predicted a follow-up attack as evidence of why the government cannot back down on national security.

Lamberth has made many controversial decisions in his career and recently made the news for approving a search warrant for the email and phone records of a Fox News reporter.

For more information, please see:

UPI – NSA tapped fiber cables to collect data – 10 July 2013

ABC News – Former Judge Admits Flaws in Secret Court – 9 July 2013

Boston.com – Former FISA judge says secret court is flawed – 9 July 2013

CBS News – Former judge admits flaws with secret FISA court – 9 July 2013

NPR – Ex-FISA Court Judge Reflects: After 9/11, ‘Bloodcurdling’ Briefings – 3 July 2013

SNHR: Report Regarding Prisoners and the Events of the Aleppo Central Prison

Documented by SNHR

The central prison in Aleppo contains more than 4,600 detainees, most of them political prisoners, human rights activists and media activists, in addition to felonies’ arrest.

Among the 4,600 prisoners, there are at least 1,300 political, media activist, or human rights activists who although finished serving arbitrary prison terms imposed by court, they remain in detention and no one is set to be released.

Prison management committed severe torturing and humiliating methods, such as holding dozens in very tight rooms, and another torture method that SNHR issued different reports on.  All that pushed the detainees to participate in acts of civil disobedience on July 2012.  Prison management replied to the disobedience with sit-firing directly at the political and media activists section, it led to many injuries among them.

After the disobedience, prison management punished detainees by totally preventing visits, increased torture, and reduce food and medicine quantities.

Armed rebel made a decision in 13 May 2013 to release all detainees in Aleppo central prison, started military operation by the name: “releasing prisoners,” and began besieging the prison and attacked it.

When the detainees heard the news, they carried out Intractability inside the prison, where the security forces attacked them and fired live bullets against them, it led to the deaths of 2 victims directly and more than 60 injuries, most of them killed later on different periods due to the lack of medicine and any treatment.

On 31 May 2013, and as a reaction of that intractability, prison management executed 49 political detainees:

The following link contains all names and details of Aleppo Central Prion’s Victims, that SNHR could document they are 60 prisoners, the real number is much higher, but because of communication difficulties we only could have these names:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9Bj18tlYYKBQVhtUnFtYUx3SUU/edit?usp=sharing 

Then, prison troops collected detainees’ bodies, who were killed inside cells, after the smell intensified and led to the spread of epidemics, and buried the bodies in a cemetery known to all prisoners who testified that it’s located in the eastern yard of the prison.

A large number of diseases spread inside the prison, due to the prevention of medicine which mostly was provided by prisoner’s families who visited their sons, the severity of diseases increased because of the lack of food and hygiene, SNHR estimated the number of prisons infected with Tuberculosis with more than 200 infected, 7 of them dead because of the lack of treatment.

Poisoned conditions accompanied with severe vomiting and diarrhea also appeared among prisoners, we knew that it was caused by the contamination of water tanks that were not cleaned or sterilized for more than 4 months and was filled with plankton, dirt, and worms.

In addition to all of these, prison troops starved prisoners, where they gave every prisoner only 150 grams of flour daily, then they reduced it to 73 grams.  It led the prisoners to collect their shares together and burn the plastic covers to cook the flour, so they could eat it, but it caused suffocation and acute respiratory infections due to thick smoke.

Monday 24 June 2013, and after an agreement between Free Syrian Army and Prison Troops through ICRC in order to provide cooked food to the besieged prison, where 11 cars carrying cooked food went to the prison, prison troops betrayed the agreement and shot the cars, it led to the injuries of Dr. Yaser Kaias in addition to another 5 paramedics.

Legal conclusions:

Art 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following
provisions:

1) )Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(D) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording. And all the judicial guarantees civilized peoples.

Based on the forgoing we note that the Syrian Government, by arresting civilians or armed had blatantly violated both international humanitarian law, the Geneva Convention III, and the international law of Human Rights.

Recommendations:

Syrian Government:

1-             Immediate termination of all human rights violations

2-             Respect its international obligations of Protection Civilian in Time of War, and respect the rules of international humanitarian law and international law of human rights

Human Rights Council:

1-       Pay more serious attention to the catastrophic situation of detainees in Syria

2-       Demand the Security Council and the concerned international institutions to hold their responsibilities towards this serious matter

3-      Pressure on the Syrian Government Troops to stop torturing and unlock the prisons and detention centers to see detainees and understand their conditions

4-      Hold allies and supporters of the Syrian Government Troops: Russia, Iran, and China, morally and physically responsible for what is happening to the Syrian people

Security Council:

1-      Decision to refer all the criminals and the involved to ICC

2-      Warn the Syrian Government Troops of the repercussions of using brutal methods on the stability of civil peace and coexistence between the people of the same society

Arab League:

1-      Demand the Human Rights Council and United Nations to give this serious issue the right attention and follow up.

2-      Political and diplomatic pressure on the Syrian Government Troops’ main allies – Russia, Iran and China – to prevent them from continuously providing cover and international and political protection for all the crimes committed against the Syrian people and hold them morally and physically responsible for all the excesses of the Syrian Government Troops

3-      Serious attention of this case and give it high priority, and try to take care of victims psychologically, physically, and educationally

Sergei Magnitsky Is Expected to Be Found Guilty in the First Ever Posthumous Trial in Russian History

PRESS RELEASE

10 July 2013 – Today, at the Tverskoi district court in Moscow, judge Igor Alisov, is expected to find Sergei Magnitsky guilty of tax evasion in the first ever posthumous trial in Russian history. It is also expected that judge Alisov will find William Browder guilty of the same crimes in absentia. The proceedings against Magnitsky and Browder have been condemned around the world as illegitimate, politically motivated andincompatible with international and Russian law.

“This show trial confirms that Vladimir Putin is ready to sacrifice hisinternational credibility to protect corrupt officials who murdered an innocent lawyer and stole $230 million from the Russian state,” said a Hermitage Capital representative.

The motivation for the posthumous trial has been to cover-up the complicity of Russian tax officials, police officers and judges in the largest tax theft in the history of Russia.

In June 2007, police officers raided the offices of Hermitage and its law firm and seized corporate documents that were then used by corrupt officials and criminals to steal $230 million from the Russian state. Hermitage complained to the Russian authorities in December 2007 about the involvement of Interior Ministry officers in the crime. Two months later, some of the same officers opened a retaliatory criminal case againstMr Browder. In June and October 2008, Sergei Magnitsky testified to the Russian authorities about the involvement of the same Interior Ministry officers in the theft. Shortly thereafter, he was added to the same criminal case as Browder and arrested. In pre-trial detention, Sergei Magnitsky was held for 358 days, denied medical care, family visits, access to clean and hot water, and sleep, in order to force him to retract his testimony. He refused and was subsequently beaten by riot guards with rubber batons, until he was found dead on the cell floor on November 16th 2009.

In response to the impunity of all the Russian officials involved in SergeiMagnitsky’s false arrest, torture and death, the US Congress passed thethe Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act, which imposes visa and financial sanctions on all the Russian officials involved in the ill-treatment and death of Mr Magnitsky and in other gross human rightsabuses in Russia. In July 2012, the OSCE Parliamentary Assemblypassed the Magnitsky Resolution calling on all OSCE countries to impose similar sanctions as the US. In June 2013, the Rapporteur to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe issued a report on the Magnitsky case in which he found the allegations by the Russian government to be legally and factually unfounded.

Specifically the Rapporteur to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe found that:

“The detailed and well-documented replies received have gone a long way to convince us that Hermitage did not violate the law. This was also confirmed by an audit carried out by the competent tax authorities…“

He went on to say that the case couldn’t be tried because the statute of limitations had already elapsed:

 

“Legal pursuits for any tax underpayments concerning 2001 would also appear to be time-barred…Consequently, the formal indictments dated 22 March 2013 and the posthumous trial against Sergei Magnitsky and the trial in absentia against Bill Browder appear to violate Russian law.”

Lawyers for Mr Browder have identified numerous violations of the law and falsifications in the criminal case file. After they filed a series of complaints against the Russian authorities detailing the falsifications, the Russian court denied them any further access to case files, thereby preventing them from fulfilling their professional duties. Subsequentlystate-funded lawyers were appointed for the posthumous trial to create an impression of a legal representation.

For further information, please see:

Law and Order in Russia

Deadly Shooting Results From Protest in Support of Ousted Egyptian President Morsi

By Darrin Simmons
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

CAIRO, Egypt – In the wake of former Egypt President Mohamed Morsi being overthrown, turmoil has spread throughout Egypt and the Middle East.  Early Monday morning, outside of the barracks holding President Morsi, a deadly shooting ensued between the army and protesters.

Dozens were killed and hundreds injured during a protest in support of President Morsi (photo courtesy of BBC News)

Reports of up to fifty one people killed and more than three hundred injured during what has been termed a “massacre,” have flooded newsstands and human rights organizations.  Many have called upon the rest of the world to intervene and prevent Egypt from becoming the next Syria.

Great Britain has been insisting for an investigation into the shooting, in support of a democratic constitution in Egypt to provide free and fair elections.  The European Union has heavily regulated its funds pledged to carry out aid in Egypt while also condemning the killings.

The United States has issued a statement asking the Egyptian army to exercise “maximum restraint” and extreme caution when condemning the uprisings along with condolences for those who were killed and injured.

“We remain deeply concerned about the increasing violence across Egypt.  We strongly condemn any violence or any incitement to violence,” stated Jen Psaki, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman.

Protesters outside of the barracks were members of the Muslim Brotherhood, who were staging a “peaceful” protest in support of President Morsi.  However, the army claimed that a “terrorist group” attempted to storm the barracks, attacking first with “heavy gunfire.”

“The Republican Guard fired tear gas, but the thugs came for the side.  We were the target,” stated Mahmud al Shili, a protestor member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

“Every police force in the world understands how to disperse a sit-in.  This is just a criminal activity targeting protesters,” claimed a Muslim Brotherhood spokesman, Gehad Haddad.

Daily protests by the Muslim Brotherhood have been held since the ousting of President Morsi last Wednesday.  The Brotherhood has denounced his overthrow as a military coup and has been expressing their resistance against the “usurper authorities.”

Footage has been released contradicting the army’s claim that the gates of the barracks were attacked by protestors.  However, the army has also released footage of the protestors attacking and shooting at the troops.

Army Colonel Ahmed Mohammed Ali reported that they suffered deaths and injuries as well.  Two policemen and an army officer were killed along with another forty two troop members injured in the shooting.

“Deep sorrow” over the loss of lives and a call for restraint has been voiced by Egypt’s office of the interim president Adly Mansour.

For more information, please see the following: 

Aljazeera – Massacre in Cairo deepens Egypt crisis – 08 July 2013

BBC News – Egypt unrest: Tensions soar amid Cairo killings – 08 July 2013

Guardian – Dozens killed in Cairo after gunmen open fire on pro-Morsi protesters – 08 July 2013

Sky News – Egypt: Brotherhood calls for further protests – 08 July 2013